Before-And-After Pictures Show How Sochi Has Changed In The Year Leading Up To The Olympics

The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, have cost the nation
nearly $50 billion, making them the most expensive Games in
history.

Much of the work to transform
the resort town into a professional outpost for everything
from curling to bobsledding took place over the last 11 months.
That included rebuilding residences and installing new shopping
centers and hotels for the expected influx of tourists.

These side-by-side Reuters
photos show just how much Sochi's landscape has changed in
preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Photos on the left or
top were taken in February 2013 in the village of
Krasnaya Polyana, near Sochi, while their counterparts were taken
just this month in the same locations.

Roads in Sochi
and its surrounding villages were newly
paved.Kai
Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Nearby buildings got a
spruce-up.Kai
Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Lots of new
construction appeared in the village of Krasnaya
Polyana, near Sochi.Kai
Pfaffenbach/Reuters

New chain hotels were
put up in anticipation of the influx of tourists for the
Olympics.Kai
Pfaffenbach/Reuters

They also built a new
shopping center in Krasnaya
Polyana.Kai
Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Construction for the
Olympics continues on the outskirts.Kai
Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Even this building that
housed Olympics construction workers over the past 11 months got
an updated facade. Kai
Pfaffenbach/Reuters